In light of the latest Rugby League drama surrounding Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough let’s look at crisis management for athlete managers. These are just some of the key points in my experience.
- Know your strategy. Brainstorm worst case scenarios. Then when the crisis breaks, you immediately know the steps you should be taking. This is about knowing people’s roles in a crisis. Who will be the media spokesperson, who will draft the media release, what are the processes to inform sponsors etc.
- Inform key stakeholders. When a crisis breaks, consult the athlete’s lawyer (if it’s a legal matter) and then the sporting association or club. Clubs have a duty to know the full details and protect their sponsors and will often take over the management of the crisis – which saves you being the public face of the crisis (never a good look for a sports manager).
- Be the first to know. Make sure that you are the first person your client contacts after any controversy. Get all the facts on the table. If you are the first to know, then you get a chance to break the news. This is not always possible, but if YOU break the news, then YOU get to control the message, which leads me to…..
- Don’t ignore the crisis, or sweep it under the carpet. Always assume the crisis is bigger than what it is because in the eyes of the media it often is. The media will always find out eventually and then you’ll have two crises – the actual crisis and the way you’ve handled it.
- Legal issues are not an excuse to run and hide. You have an obligation to publicly address the issue. It’s only the CONTENT of your public address that needs to be managed carefully. If you’re client is unable to comment due to a legal investigation then say so. Which brings me to…
- Make sure everyone is briefed. If the media can’t get comment from the source they will go to a family member, former coach, current sponsors etc. So you need to brief all these people that the appointed ‘Spokesperson’ is the contact and any enquiries should be directed to that person.
- Don’t blame the media for the trouble your client is in. This never achieves anything.
- Don’t speculate in the media. Stick to the facts if there is an investigation going on. For example, don’t answer questions about possible consequences if your client is found guilty. This only adds more drama to the story.
It will be interesting to watch how the Sea Eagles manage the media as more details come to light over the coming week.
